Relyance Bank of Pine Bluff is gearing up for its third Little Rock branch.
“We’re shooting for the end of January, first of February,” CEO Chuck Morgan told Whispers last week.
Relyance bought the 2,656-SF branch at 14220 Cantrell Road from Simmons First National Bank of Pine Bluff in August.
Purchase price: $985,000.
Two branch staffers have been hired, and Morgan is still looking for a third.
Relyance entered Pulaski County in September 2014 by buying the former Simmons branch at 11000 Financial Centre Parkway for $1.2 million.
Then in June, Relyance opened a branch in leased space at 1801 N. Fillmore St. in the Heights, a former Regions Bank location.
Relyance, formerly Pine Bluff National Bank, absorbed its sister charter, Hot Springs Bank & Trust, at the end of 2013. It currently has 14 branches: five in Pine Bluff, three in Hot Springs, two in Little Rock and one each in White Hall, Redfield, Hot Springs Village and Star City.
Assets topped $560 million as of June 30, up nearly 10 percent since the end of 2014. Relyance reported net income of just over $5 million in 2014 and just under $2 million for the first half of 2015.